Senate Passes Bill to Combat Excessive Lawsuits

Today the State Senate passed what is the biggest piece of their lawsuit reform agenda. By a vote of 30 to 14, HB 2128 by Senator Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, gained full Senate approval.

Senate leaders have worked for weeks on a series of lawsuit reform measures. House Bill 2128 will place a cap on non-economic damages of $350,000. The bill allows the cap on non-economic damages to be lifted under certain criteria.

Sykes said that “This legislation will move Oklahoma forward and it is a vital piece of the Senate Republican jobs agenda.”

“This is among the strongest lawsuit reforms in the country,” said President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman. “Oklahoma can now not only be competitive in the recruitment of jobs and doctors, we can best our competition with lawsuit reforms that lower the cost of business and end defensive medicine.”

Senate leaders reiterated the importance of a person’s right to trial by jury, and that the jury be allowed to make the final judgment as is provided by HB 2128. If the case has any of the criteria to lift the cap, the judge and jury can award a judgment beyond the level of the cap. The bill will now proceed to the Governor’s desk.